The Secret to Creating an Exceptional Website

It’s time to re-think how we interact with our website visitors….

Here’s how ensure your website is exceptional.

Pretend you’re a customer... Its predicted that by 2020 people will self manage 85% of their relationship with a business online without talking to a real person. Put yourself in your customers shoes and see how easy it is to do business with you.

Is your navigation easy to follow.

Can you find your contact details and location map easily

Is your website responsive for mobile devices

Is your information clear and concise

Do you have Call to Actions on every page

Mirror your customers verbiage…. Understand who your customer is and talk in language they use and understand. Avoid using technical jargon or mumbo jumbo in your website copy that the lay person cannot understand. You never know who is looking at your website. For example a boss may ask their receptionist to research and industry online and if they can’t understand your website they will move on to the next one.

Have faith in your website… what would you do if you or your sales team were gone?

Mimic the sales discussion you have with your customers. Solve your customers problems before they ask. Have good Frequently Asked Questions and a contact form for easy follow-ups. The beauty of a website is that you have a sales person working for you 24/7 so make sure that sales person is singing from the company song book.

It’s alright not to know everything.... Your website and everything around it is an experiment. Trial and error is the order of the day to see what works and what doesn’t. There will be mistakes along the way but learn and grow with them. Don’t be afraid to try new things. A website should never be finished. Once it goes live, it’s just the starting point.

Let’s talk about how we can help you get an Exceptional Website. Phone today!

]]>https://iwsdesign.ca/secret-creating-exceptional-website/feed/0No website is better than a bad websitehttps://iwsdesign.ca/north-vancouver-ux-design/
https://iwsdesign.ca/north-vancouver-ux-design/#respondTue, 02 May 2017 18:03:58 +0000https://iwsdesign.ca/?p=1691The post No website is better than a bad website appeared first on IWS Canada.
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I.W.S. Blog

No website is better than a bad website!

No website is better than a bad website

It has been often said that it’s better to have no website than a bad website. Pretty harsh, but consider this; 98% of customers have reported that they stop engaging with a brand after a bad experience online. Websites are supposed to attract customers not drive them away in their droves.

User Experience:

The solution is to think of your customer first. This is an area where people often get confused and make their websites about them, ignoring their users and not putting themselves in their customers shoes. It’s called User Experience or UX and it is how we interact with the users of the website. If your UX is bad and leaves your visitors feeling lost or confused then they will abandon your website and head for your opposition. In the olden days we used to have Splash pages with fancy Flash introductions that would give the visitors a little show before they entered the website. Those days are long gone and people want to find information quickly and easily as we are all time poor now and don’t have time to go searching for information that should be readily available.

Use your Mission Statement:

Every business should have a Mission Statement that outlines the company’s core values and reason for being. Use this statement to develop a message to use on your website and be very clear about it. This will get your customers to believe in what you believe in. People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it, and so you need to show them your passion and your belief.

Mobile First:

Change your perspective and design for Mobile First as nearly 60% of searches are done on a mobile device and that number is only going to increase over time. If your website is not yet mobile friendly then you are leaving a lot of money on the table because you are ignoring the majority of users from accessing your website easily. Look at your mobile website and see how easy it is to find your phone number, your business address or map, and your contact us page.

UX is more than Design:

Although design is very important to your users experience it goes way deeper than that. You need to consider your communication with your customers:

How do you make sales calls, how do you communicate in general with your customers. Is it via email, phone or social media?

What is your strategy for customer support?

How’s your website navigation worded and laid out

and much more.

Online Marketing Strategy:

Develop an online marketing strategy that is written down so you can refer to in now and in the future. You need to build a road map to plan your website and understand where and when to spend your money and time.

Subscribe below and get a free PDF worksheet to help you plan out your website and build an online marketing strategy.

]]>https://iwsdesign.ca/north-vancouver-ux-design/feed/0Consumers don’t differentiate between big business or small businesshttps://iwsdesign.ca/big-business-small-business/
https://iwsdesign.ca/big-business-small-business/#respondThu, 27 Apr 2017 18:29:42 +0000https://iwsdesign.ca/?p=1616The post Consumers don’t differentiate between big business or small business appeared first on IWS Canada.
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I.W.S. Blog

Website Design in North Vancouver

Consumers don’t differentiate between big business or small business.

The internet is a global level playing ground where all businesses have equal exposure opportunity. Consumers know what they want when it comes to visiting a website and they don’t differentiate between small business and big business. If they arrive at your website and don’t get the best experience, they will leave, most likely never to return. User Experience (UX) has become a crucial part of the web development process. You need to look at your website from your visitors point of view and ask yourself “Am I giving the best experience I can?”.

Some of the major turnoffs for visitors are;

Outdated contact details

No location address, map or directions

No business hours displayed

Poor mobile interface or not responsive

Outdated or poor design

Boring stock photography

Can’t find information quickly

In a recent survey 60% of respondents said they based their purchase decision on their impression of the business website. It’s your shopfront window to the world so you need to have it looking impressive.

Call us today to get an unbiased review of your website and how we can help improve your User Experience.

]]>https://iwsdesign.ca/cbt-locker-wordpress-ransomware/feed/0DIY vs WordPress Websiteshttps://iwsdesign.ca/diy-vs-wordpress-websites/
Fri, 19 Feb 2016 21:59:41 +0000http://iwsdesign.ca/?p=1330I often get asked “Why would someone want a WordPress when they could get one of these DIY websites cheaper and quicker”?
My answer is usually...
“If you cut your own hair, the front can look okay, but the back will be a disaster”

I.W.S. Blog

Wix Vs Weebly Vs Squarebox

I often get asked “Why would someone want a WordPress when they could get one of these DIY websites cheaper and quicker”?

My answer is usually…

“If you cut your own hair, the front can look okay, but the back will be a disaster”

Why WordPress?

WordPress is transportable. You can move to whatever hosting company you like. The others are not, so if you outgrow your website you will have to start from scratch. When you start a business you are looking for cheaper alternatives to keep costs down, but you must be thinking about your future needs and how a DIY website will suit your company’s growth in 12 months’ time. I am not saying that DIY websites don’t have a role to play, but for businesses wanting their website to grow with them and meet their future goals, then I would recommend WordPress to start with.

With WordPress you own your own website. With the others you are really just renting. I have never been a fan of ‘putting all your eggs in one basket’ and if anything were to happen to one of these companies, you could lose everything.

WordPress has 29,000 plugins to date and rising. Plugins which will enhance your website users experience and seeing that currently 25% of the world’s websites are WordPress, it has become a very popular and stable website platform.

Your websites are branded by these companies which could portray an amateurish (or cheap) image of your company. SEO is also another concern as WIX recently had an unpleasant situation where Google un-indexed all their sites for a while. WordPress has some very good SEO plugins that work well with the big search engines and tend to rank really well.

Lastly it’s all about User Experience (UX) and with WordPress you have much more control over customising your website rather than grabbing a cookie cutter, one size fits all template that isn’t talking to your target audience.

Conclusion:

If you are in business then you need to be in control of your biggest marketing asset – Your Website. We pick up one or two websites a month from companies out-growing their DIY website and we usually need to start over which is something they could have avoided if they had gone WordPress in the first place. Think about the future of your website now, and plan for it. Don’t skimp on your website, or it could cost you more down the track.

]]>3 Ways to Convert Viewers into Buyershttps://iwsdesign.ca/3-ways-to-convert-viewers-into-buyers/
https://iwsdesign.ca/3-ways-to-convert-viewers-into-buyers/#respondWed, 24 Jun 2015 19:57:46 +0000http://v2.iwsdesign.ca/?p=958I.W.S. V-Blog is on how you can tweak your website to turn website viewers into buyers.

]]>https://iwsdesign.ca/3-ways-to-convert-viewers-into-buyers/feed/0Why your website is so important to your businesshttps://iwsdesign.ca/why-your-website-is-so-important-to-your-business/
https://iwsdesign.ca/why-your-website-is-so-important-to-your-business/#respondWed, 24 Jun 2015 19:50:15 +0000http://v2.iwsdesign.ca/?p=956Running a business is a constant battle and you need all the help you can get. Your website needs to be your best friend in business. It needs to bring you more business, give you credibility, and make a good first impression.

Why your website is so important to your business

Running a business is a constant battle and you need all the help you can get. Your website needs to be your best friend in business. It needs to bring you more business, give you credibility, and make a good first impression.

First Impressions are Important
Most people will search for a business online before they shop. With this in mind you want your first impression to be the best it can be and show the potential customer that you are a trustworthy and credible business to do business with. Your website needs to be responsive for mobile devices and load quickly. It is also very important to have a click-able phone number visible throughout the site.

Window shopping is dead
Wondering down the street looking in shop front windows is not what it used to be. Most people search for the business they want to visit before leaving the house. Search Engine Optimisation is so important and you need to be visible in Google, Bing, Yelp and the other search engines to bring customers to you.

No Website vs Bad Website
It is said that it is better to have no website than a bad website. This is true because a bad website will damage your reputation more than not having one at all. No website means missed opportunities and nowadays it’s easy to get online with a quality template website that will give your business credibility, trust and increase your brand awareness.

Your website should appear that you are a professional outfit whether you are a sole operator or have 100 employees. This is achieved by keeping your website modern, and updating the text, images and blogs regularly. Having a professional and polished website that engages with your customers will be the key to your online success.

]]>https://iwsdesign.ca/why-your-website-is-so-important-to-your-business/feed/0The psychology of “Call to Actions”https://iwsdesign.ca/the-psychology-of-call-to-actions/
https://iwsdesign.ca/the-psychology-of-call-to-actions/#respondWed, 24 Jun 2015 19:47:17 +0000http://v2.iwsdesign.ca/?p=954A “Call to Action” (CTA) is a fundamental element of every website page. When a visitor comes to your website they need to be told what to do next.

The psychology of “Call to Actions”

A “Call to Action” (CTA) is a fundamental element of every website page. When a visitor comes to your website they need to be told what to do next. Without a “Call to Action” they will wonder off and you will lose the chance to convert them to a customer. Worst still, they’re expecting one.

There have been many studies carried out to understand the psychology of “Call to Actions” that not only include the colour, border size, font style and copy, but the psychology that motivates our behavior.

Visitors Expect a Call to Action:

When we land on a web page we are conditioned to expect a CTA based on our past experiences. We are expecting to be summoned into action, we know it coming and our minds have decided that there will be a CTA on the page. With that in mind, make your CTA obvious.

The CTA tantalises our sense of curiosity:

Our minds are curious about what will happen once we have clicked the CTA. Curiosity is powerful, (not so good for cats) because of the promise of what lies beyond, satisfaction. CTA’s that use “ultimate, guide, secrets and tips and tricks” really spark the visitor’s curiosity and drive them to click through. To increase curiosity, explain some, but not all. Use the CTA copy that promises ad discovery, a secret, or some new knowledge.

CTA’s that feed our Anticipation:

Psychologically we are wired for anticipation.

Tell a Story. We are suckers for a story and the CTA should be the climax of the story. The landing page is the introduction, the CTA the climax and the click through page the resolution.

Build it up. The greater the anticipation the grater the emotional experience of clicking the CTA.

We are conditioned that a reward will come after we click on the CTA. Our mental history tells us that clicking or signing up brings a feeling of reward. By promising a reward you can strengthen the desire to receive that reward which will increase your conversion rates.

In conclusion, there is psychology in everything we do but by understanding the psychology of CTA’s you can target your copy to tap into your visitor’s inner psychology and increase your conversion rates.

]]>https://iwsdesign.ca/the-psychology-of-call-to-actions/feed/0A step by step guide to keeping Your content currenthttps://iwsdesign.ca/a-step-by-step-guide-to-keeping-your-content-current/
https://iwsdesign.ca/a-step-by-step-guide-to-keeping-your-content-current/#respondWed, 24 Jun 2015 19:41:32 +0000http://v2.iwsdesign.ca/?p=950Your website is usually the first interaction your potential customers have with your business, so you need to make a great first impression.

A step by step guide to keeping Your content current

Your website is usually the first interaction your potential customers have with your business, so you need to make a great first impression. Broken links, stale and out of date content, poor quality images are amongst the first things that will lose their trust. Keeping your website in good order is paramount in it’s (and your businesses) success.

Here are a few tips to help you stay on top of it.

Make a Date
Plan a meeting to discuss the websites goals and achievements. Put a plan into action to re-fresh or create new content. Check the following important features;
— Are the phone numbers and address correct
— Have any staff changed and is the about us page current
— Are the products still relevant and up to date
— Are all the links working

Is it Functional
Has your website become cluttered and irrelevant? Get rid of things that you no longer need or that are not regularly used. Take advantage of new trends or modules that can improve your customers User Experience and improve your SEO. Things like;
— Social Media Feeds
— Embedded Video
— Blogs
— Image Galleries
— Call to Actions

Keep it User Friendly
Put yourself in your customers shoes and test that your website is easy to navigate, searchable, and most of have a coherent flow. If you can’t find information quickly then you might need to re-think the website structure.

Meet with your Web Designer
Set up a regular meeting with your Website Designer to discuss modern trends, latest technology and ways to improve your websites functionality. Your web designer should be up to date with the latest trends and can advise you the best possible improvements that will suit your target audience and budget.

Video backgrounds on websites can add excitement

Websites don’t need to be static! Adding video backgrounds make visiting your website a moving experience. Websites aren’t print so you can have the flexibility to include video as part of your uses experience and now with HTML5 it has become easier to create a richer experience.

Adding browser sized videos as backgrounds to your website changes the visual experience and can change the mood and atmosphere, or tell a story, or demonstrate a product. You can have multiple videos that play randomly when visitors come to your site or perhaps create specific LANDING pages targeting a video and call to action.

Much more fun than just a static page.

Here are some great examples of video backgrounds to wet your appetite.